Sennheiser HD800 S Impressions Thread (read first post for summary)
Aug 11, 2019 at 12:26 PM Post #4,861 of 8,481
What areas did you feel the Ether 2 fell short in? I have to admit to not personally meshing with the Ether Flow when I had it available on loan. For me it was just too clean and lacked any weight and while it is easy enough to over thicken a sound signature and make it a dull mess; however, lack of an appropriate amount of weight in the sound signature leaves the sound thin and etched for me and as crazy detail retrieval isn't my thing, I don't respond to such signatures. I know that many do, but it isn't my deal. I simply loved the 800S and do not feel that it lacked weight. I did plump up the lower frequencies slightly, but only a little. Still miss that headphone. Sigh, to be in an economic position where I didn't have to sell gear off to try new gear.

Well Dan likes to talk about the Ether 2 as having a much larger soundstage than his past iterations, but it was still just average at best. To go from something like the 800/800S would be a massive disappointment, but I was still disappointed coming from the HEK V2.

The other thing that was disappointing was that it didn’t sound like a planar. If I didn’t know the tech inside the Ether 2, I’d swear it was a dynamic with the sub bass tuned to be a little elevated. The HEK series sound very detailed and have precise imaging and that typical, beautiful planar mid range. Audeze always have that impactful and visceral bass response and they sound thick with large imaging.

The Ether 2 didn’t have any of that. It was average with detail retrieval, cast a smallish image, and the soundstage was nothing to brag about. There was nothing really bad about it, but because nothing stood out, it came across as boring and lifeless.

And even though it was super lightweight, it was still uncomfortable, because the earpad openings were too small and the clamping pressure too high.

Hard pass.
 
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Aug 11, 2019 at 12:29 PM Post #4,862 of 8,481
Any of you guys recommend a decent portable amp to drive my HD800S . My desktop amp has died on me and I don’t think I will replace it . So looking for an amp to pair with my iPhone XR

Any help appreciated

I’d start with the Ifi Micro Black Label. But if your budget is large, you could also look at the Hugo 2 and Woo wa11.

The Mojo would be the most portable and least expensive, but they would be slightly under-powered.
 
Aug 11, 2019 at 12:45 PM Post #4,863 of 8,481
I’d start with the Ifi Micro Black Label. But if your budget is large, you could also look at the Hugo 2 and Woo wa11.

The Mojo would be the most portable and least expensive, but they would be slightly under-powered.

I have actually been reading about the ifi product this afternoon. I don’t think I will spend more than this as I anticipate listening to headphones less over the next few years. Thanks for the reply
 
Aug 12, 2019 at 7:38 PM Post #4,864 of 8,481
Been using my HD800s all day then the HD800 turn up an hour ago.
Some initial Impressions:
Well there are some noticeable differences, The HD800 headband is the same but BETTER, HD800s is loose, floppy, slides down when on your head (ball bearing issue probably) Since New!. HD800 is tight fits perfect no issues. Floppy ear pads on the HD800, Tight almost stiff ones on the HD800s, guessing that's new(er) pads vs used though.
HD800 soundstage soundsa tiny bit larger, its a small difference or a false sense of larger because of some of the pushed back sounds. (hd800s sounds are never "pushed back" they are just "there" or where they are).
HD800s singing is dead center in front of you, HD800 is kind of spread out larger, 1 song actually had the singer move slightly (& i mean slightly) more into to the left channel which the HD800s doesn't do for the same song.
You know that "static" sound when you put on a LP as the needles starting to move towards the part that has music or after a song finishes on vinyl, HD800 so natural & life like. HD800s to be honest i didn't even notice that part ever at the start of the song... Its there you can hear it but not as noticeable on the HD800s.
The treble "issue" & "no" bass on the HD800 but its not even remotely close to as bad as people claim & I'm bright sensitive! so thats interesting.... Don;t get me wrong there is a "Small" treble spike issue.. But its so meh most of the time. Also the music & sounds are cleaner sounding than the HD800s. Songs with bass are clean & you can hear the bass dare I say better than the HD800s on bassy songs, but less bassy songs the HD800s it more "bassy sounding". (going to need to EQ check because just noticed it might be something in the lower mids not bass,,,)

I'm using the NFB1 amp which is warmer & does kind of roll the treble off noticeably a bit more than some amps.defiantly from initial impressions a good pairing with the HD800. HD800s... Yeah its good but needs more in the treble.
I also have the Du Pont mod just sitting there...... Gathering dust. See what changes impression wise in a week or so.
 
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Aug 12, 2019 at 8:15 PM Post #4,865 of 8,481
I’d start with the Ifi Micro Black Label. But if your budget is large, you could also look at the Hugo 2 and Woo wa11.

The Mojo would be the most portable and least expensive, but they would be slightly under-powered.

Just my tuppence/2 cents worth.

Mojo & HD800/HD800S & I also presume the HD820 ? do not sound good via mojo at all. It's just bad.

Hugo 2 and the HD series of headphones sound excellent together though. Mojo is a great little dac, but it takes it's big brother Hugo 2 to let the HD800 range shine.
 
Aug 12, 2019 at 8:30 PM Post #4,866 of 8,481
Just my tuppence/2 cents worth.

Mojo & HD800/HD800S & I also presume the HD820 ? do not sound good via mojo at all. It's just bad.

Hugo 2 and the HD series of headphones sound excellent together though. Mojo is a great little dac, but it takes it's big brother Hugo 2 to let the HD800 range shine.

I’d agree with that. But if you had a limited budget, it will get the job done. You could definitely do a lot worse than the Mojo.
 
Aug 13, 2019 at 3:10 AM Post #4,867 of 8,481
Some great help on here so,thanks, guys. I am probably favouring the ifi Micro BL as it looks the best option for me
 
Aug 13, 2019 at 9:30 AM Post #4,868 of 8,481
Some great help on here so,thanks, guys. I am probably favouring the ifi Micro BL as it looks the best option for me
I had the original iFi Micro and really enjoyed it. I was surprised to learn that as a DAC it measures rather poorly on some key metrics, but saying that it just goes to show that something can perhaps not impress when measured by still sound great. For the record while I did own and love the 800S I did not own it at the same time as the Micro, but really I see no reason why the Micro BL would not drive the 800S very well.
 
Aug 13, 2019 at 10:46 AM Post #4,869 of 8,481
Just to add to above since it arrived:
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Aug 13, 2019 at 4:33 PM Post #4,871 of 8,481
I'm lucky I found my holy grail speakers. I love my bryston golden ear synergy. Now I'm fully head over heels into headphones.

It's funny how I don't really listen to my speaker setup or home theatre anymore, I use headphones for everything.
Yeah, I did that for years. Suprisingly, my Sunfire/Ohm speakers get most of my listening time now. It's great to have choices!
 
Aug 16, 2019 at 9:45 AM Post #4,873 of 8,481
Any of you guys recommend a decent portable amp to drive my HD800S . My desktop amp has died on me and I don’t think I will replace it . So looking for an amp to pair with my iPhone XR

Any help appreciated
Hugo 2 ,, is really really amazing , i love this pairing very much.
 
Aug 16, 2019 at 10:18 AM Post #4,874 of 8,481
TT May be better. Imo
 

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